Chinese Garlic Prices Continue to Decline

Speculators in the garlic market may have suffered severe losses due to a fall in prices of the small-sized, but important agricultural commodity in recent months. The wholesale price has generally dropped to a level of nine yuan (US$1.36) per kilogram this year, half what it was last year, according to Workers’ Daily…Full Article: ECNS.cn Nov 2017

Key Points

From July to November 2017, the wholesale price of garlic in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, declined CNY 1.4 [~USD 0.21] per kg to CNY 3.6 [~USD 0.54] per kilogram. In July, harvested garlic arrived in the wholesale market.

From May to November 2017, based on the China Jinxiang Garlic Index, Jinxiang County, Shandong Province, saw its garlic index drop from 594.64 to 170.53.

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In October 2017, according to the CEO of a garlic trading company, the export price for Chinese garlic was roughly CNY 6,000 [USD 924] per MT. In 2016, the export price totaled ~CNY 10,000 [USD 1,448] per MT.

In December 2016, the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture noted that garlic cultivation has risen by more than 20% during the 2016 planting season. The provinces of Henan and Yunnan have also seen increase garlic cultivation in 2016. The provincial governments of Shandong and Henan in particular have offered garlic farmers subsidized insurance and discounted loans to garlic traders/processors.

Over the past year (2016), according to an analyst at the Suning Institute of Finance, prices have increased for ginger (by 300%), some ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine (by 80%), cotton (by 20%) and sugar (by 20%).

From October 2015 to October 2016, according to the NDRC, Chinese wholesale and retail garlic prices have increased 90% and 67.9%, respectively.

In April 2016, Beijing’s largest vegetable wholesale market (Xinfadi) was selling garlic at CNY 11.4 per kg [~US1.76 per kg].

From July/August 2015 to April 2016 (past nine months), according to Jinan’s Bureau of Commerce in Shandong Province, garlic prices have increased 160% to approximately CNY 21 per kg [~US$3.24 per kg].

From 2013 to 2014, China’s garlic cultivation area decreased by 10%.

In January 2013, the EU member states of the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland reported that Chinese garlic was being smuggled into their countries in order to by the EU’s 9.5% import duty on garlic.

In late 2010, Chinese wholesale garlic prices spiked to CNY 12 per kg [~US$1.79 per kg]. During this year, China produced 18.5 million MTs of garlic (80% of total global garlic output).

From 2009 to 2010, Chinese garlic prices increased to CNY 12 (US$1.74) per kg before falling 75% in 2011.

More than 60% of China’s garlic production takes place in seven counties located in the Shandong Provincial region, including Jinxiang County. Garlic from this region is typically harvest in June and sold to refrigerated storage warehouses in September. Together with Shandong Province, Yunnan Province is another major garlic production area (harvests in May).